Fibromyalgia Symptoms

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• QWhat are trigger points?

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  A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered

  Trigger points might be "active" or "latent." An active trigger point is painful even when no pressure is applied to it, and the pain may limit the use of the muscle, leading to weakness and decreased range of motion. A latent trigger point does not cause pain during daily activities, but it will feel sore when pressure is applied to it, and may become activated if the muscle is injured.
  
  Doctors aren't sure what causes trigger points. They may result from a single serious injury to a muscle or from repetitive minor injuries to a muscle area. Other possible causes of trigger points include poor posture, a vitamin deficiency, joint problems or maintaining an awkward body position. Trigger points are also common symptoms in people who have a condition called chronic myofascial pain (CMP), a neuromuscular disorder that affects the muscles and the tissue surrounding them (fascia).
  
  Exercise, stress relief and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help relieve pain and inflammation from trigger points. If those measures don't work, a doctor can sometimes inject a pain reliever, a water solution or a corticosteroid directly into the trigger point. Botulinum toxin is also sometimes used for trigger point injections. Sometimes simply inserting a needle into a trigger point without injecting medicine into it can break the pain cycle and bring relief.

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• QIs pain from fibromyalgia different than normal pain?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  While acute pain lasts for a few hours or days, fibromyalgia pain is chronic, or long-term, and lasts for months to years. In fact, widespread body pain and deep muscle pain are the main symptoms of fibromyalgia. People with fibromyalgia describe the pain as stabbing, shooting, throbbing, and aching. Some people with fibromyalgia have tingling and numbness throughout the body, along with the deep muscle pain. Others with fibromyalgia may have more pain in the morning. Pain may also worsen with weather changes, poor sleep, too much exercise, not enough exercise, and chronic emotional stress.

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• QHow different are symptoms between people with fibromyalgia?

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  A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered

  The symptoms of fibromyalgia can vary from one person to another. The hallmark symptom of fibromyalgia is chronic, body-wide pain. Many other symptoms are associated with fibromyalgia, and no two patients have precisely the same combination. Other common symptoms include:

  • fatigue
  • insomnia
  • poor concentration and attention span
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • sensitivity to bright lights, loud noises, and temperature changes
  • restless leg syndrome

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• QIs muscle pain a symptom of fibromyalgia?

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  A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered

  Heightened muscle tenderness is a common symptom of fibromyalgia. If you have fibromyalgia, even a light touch can cause intense pain at sensitive areas known as tender points. These tender points usually occur in pairs on the right and left side of the body, and above and below the waist. However, a doctor may diagnose fibromyalgia based on other symptoms, such as chronic pain, fatigue, sleep problems, and depression.

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• QWhat are the symptoms of fibromyalgia?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  Fibromyalgia symptoms include deep muscle pain, fatigue, sleeplessness, and painful trigger points. Most people with fibromyalgia experience widespread pain - in their back, neck, arms, and legs. They also have many tender or trigger points that are very painful to the touch. Other common symptoms of fibromyalgia can include anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, difficulty in concentration or "fibro fog," headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, restless leg syndrome (RLS), and jaw pain or TMJ.

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• QWhat other diseases do the symptoms of fibromyalgia appear to be like?

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  A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered

  The symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome often mimic other common health problems such as arthritis, migraine, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The deep muscle pain and stiffness of fibromyalgia may be misdiagnosed as a form of arthritis. The constant fatigue may be mistaken as chronic fatigue syndrome. Also, the anxiety, low mood and sleep disturbances may be incorrectly diagnosed as depression or another mood disorder.
  
  Because fibromyalgia syndrome has many signs and symptoms, your doctor will work with you to make an accurate diagnosis and to prescribe a multi-faceted treatment program that may consist of medications, moist heat for deep muscle pain, exercise for conditioning and stress management to help with anxiety and sleep.

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• QHow likely is it that my constant pain is from fibromyalgia?

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  A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered

  Constant pain is a symptom of many medical conditions. It's possible that fibromyalgia may be the culprit, especially if:

  • the pain is chronic, that is, it never seems to go away
  • your pain is widespread
  • the pain is accompanied by other symptoms, such as insomnia and fatigue

  See your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms or any other form of persistent pain.
• QAre my fibromyalgia symptoms all in my head?

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  A Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answered

  Fibromyalgia symptoms are not all in your head. People with fibromyalgia have widespread chronic muscle pain in specific places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms, and legs. The latest thinking is that some people are born with a genetic susceptibility to experience pain signals too intensely, but it takes a specific incident to trigger full-blown fibromyalgia. That may be a stressful or traumatic event, a repetitive injury, an illness, or certain diseases. If you have fibromyalgia, the symptoms are real.

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• QCan fibromyalgia symptoms improve?

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  A Dr. Dawn Marcus , Neurology, answered

  

  A 5-year study following fibromalgia symptoms in almost 300 women found significant improvement over time in fatigue, function, and depression. Improvement occurred after 1 year, with greater improvement over the following 4 years. So, the good news is that there's light at the end of the tunnel. The bad news is that the tunnel is long -- improvement will occur, but it's probably not going to happen overnight, after a few weeks, or even after a few months.

  

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• QHow do people with fibromyalgia feel?

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  A National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association answered

  If you ask any person with fibromyalgia (FM) what fibromyalgia is, their response would be pain; from the top of their head to the end of their toes. It's pain that "waxes and wanes" from day to day, and persists even with the use of scientifically accepted medical treatments. The pain experience is described as deep muscular aching, shooting, throbbing, stabbing, pounding and at times it is unbearable. People with FM do not sleep well, waking up feeling like they have been hit by a "Mack truck," with morning stiffness or spasticity that makes it difficult to move. Repetitive movement seems to accentuate the pain and forces many people with FM to severely limit their activities, including exercise routines. This lack of exercise results in people becoming physically unfit, causing their FM symptoms to become more severe. The other major complaint is fatigue so severe that people have a difficult time performing everyday tasks, enjoying hobbies, staying employed or taking part in their children's activities. People may feel as though their arms and legs are weighed down by cement and their bodies may feel so drained of energy that every task is a major effort.